Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — There were a few streaks on the line going into the Dominican University of California women's volleyball team's showdown with the Lady Vulcans from UH Hilo, but in the end, the only one that matters has the Lady Penguins remaining undefeated in Pacific West Conference play.

Dominican (5-6/3-0) earned a hard fought four set match victory of the Lady Vulcans (2-9/2-3) by the scores of 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, and 25-17. The win keeps the PacWest record intact at 3-0 and extends the Lady Penguins' match winning streak to four — last achieved in 2007. Dominican beat UC Santa Cruz back on Sept. 28, 2007, en route to a six-match winning streak.

With a nine set winning streak to their credit, the Lady Penguins found themselves tested quickly against UH Hilo. The two teams battled early in set one, before Dominican finally broke through with a 12-9 lead by scoring six unanswered points. Junior Jessica Jones got the offense going early, checking in with six kills in the first set. Jones was just getting started — she finished her night with a career-high 26 kills — as Dominican cruised to a 25-17 set one victory.

"Wow," Jones said, after hearing about her recording-setting performance. "I had a lot of motivation going into tonight, and so did the team. I'm going to leave it all out on the court and work my butt off."

Not to be outdone, setter Kelsey Lardner (22 digs, service ace) also had a career-high night. The junior setter totaled a whopping 49 assists as the Lady Penguins took set two by the score of 25-19. Once again Jones set the tone offensivly, with five more kills. UHH gave the Lady Penguins a couple of gifts on offense – Dominican earned its 20th point via a service error and won set two off a UHH error at the net.

"I just took tonight point by point," Lardner said when asked if she had any idea the pace she was on. "I give credit to our hitters, they're the ones who score. I just try and contribute as much as I can when I'm on the court."

To their credit, the Lady Vulcans kept fighting. They jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set three, forcing Dominican Head Coach Gayle Stammer to call a timeout. After Dominican took a 9-5 lead, UHH answered by tying the score at 14 apiece on a block by Andi Pickens. It was all Vulcans after that — they rolled to a 25-22 set three win, snapping the Lady Penguins' eleven set winning streak.

"After that third set, we knew we just had to keep fighting," said Lardner. "We didn't lose any confidence, we just took it as another set. We don't doubt ourselves anymore. We're a completely different team now."

Dominican proved that belief correct, as Jones and Lardner continued their torrid play and paced Dominican to a 25-17 set four win, sealing their fourth straight match victory. Hannah Stocking-Siagkris finished with a double-double (14 kills, 18 digs), Samantha Rains had eight kills and 14 digs, and Ashlee Sand checked in with seven kills. Freshman libero Sari Kwan held her own against UHH in the back row, totaling a career-high 24 digs. 

The Lady Penguins return to the Conlan Center on Friday, Sept. 28 as they face PacWest foe Chaminade University. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. PST. "Like" us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter at @dominicansports. You can also find the Lady Penguins on Instagram by searching "dominicansports". Live coverage of Friday's match is available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.